John Siddique

John Siddique was co-commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Art Gallery to respond to the exhibition Exporting Beauty: Pilkington’s Pottery and Tiles, featuring over 100 pots and tiles made by the world-famous Pilkington’s Tile and Pottery Company between 1893 and 1938. The resulting poems drew inspiration from the exhibits and the craftsmen and craftswomen who lovingly fashioned them. John performed his sequence of new poems Lustre at the Gallery as part of Manchester Literature Festival in October 2010.

John Siddique is the author of nine books, including Signposts of The Spiritual Journey, a book on accessing greater meaning in our lives, So (Collected New Poems 2011-21), and the widely loved children’s poetry collection Don’t Wear It on Your Head. His work has been featured in Time, The Tablet, Granta, The Guardian, Poetry Review, The Rialto, and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. Beyond his books and writing life, John also teaches meditation.

You can download a PDF of John’s poems and watch a film of Lustre here.